Killer Kowalski Vs Yukon Eric

[@philippleli2348]

I lived next door to the Killers sister. He came to Windsor to visit her and we were having a New Years Day neighbourhood get together at our house. Wanda mentioned that her brother was visiting, and we were happy to have him in our home. He was well traveled, a vegetarian, and had lots of entertaining stories. He autographed a PR photo for my young son, and gave him a Killer Kowalski figurine that was boxed, about the size of a GI Joe doll. Killer gave him a choice of the clean untouched hero, or the scarred, bloody survivor doll. We treasure the visit, and our old neighbors. Killer was a big man in many ways.

[@jonathanturbide2232]

Very cool story! Seems like he was a true gentleman.

[@jjzuc]

Love that everyone is wearing suits to a wrestling match!

[@general5886]

simpler times back then

[@quadraticresidue]

One of the many things I like about matches from this era is the extent that even the referee sells with the instructions at the beginning of the match. And the quality of the wrestlers is so good. From these two to Gagne, Carpentier, Crusher, Don Leo Jonathan, the Graham brothers, Lou Thesz, the Vachons, Haystacks Calhoun, and Buddy Rogers.

[@carolinehopkins1194]

Just found out that Yukon Eric is my great great uncle. Coolest uncle ever

[@leemclaury6251]

Yukon Eric had a huge upper chest that was like a Stone Mountain.

[@RayNDeere]

The funny thing was, Killer visited Eric in the hospital and the two laughed about how funny Eric looked with the bandage around his head after the ear episode. A newspaper reported that Killer went to the hospital to make fun of Eric and a legend was born.

[@thomasmcleod5380]

Met killer kowalski at an indy wrestling show back in '95 in Milford, MA. He was very nice and cordial to us.

[@RealityCreep]

rip walter. i loved watching you wrestle on tv when i was growing up. i have such great memories of you. you will be missed. nobody played the "heel" better than you and wresling fans loved you for it. you were truly GREAT!

[@johncollins2763]

How we loved Killer Kowalaski in Australia in 60's

[@TroublesWeekly]

These two guys were massive, great match up for it's time.

[@Samuraiprojects]

2:42 GOOD NEWS EVERYONE!

[@khellaszone]

isn,t Killer Kowalski is the one who trained triple H ??

[@ziaakbar2535]

Yes he did

[@lonesomelou4188]

Along with being tag-team partners with Big John Studd

[@zonkercousteau]

"From Fairbanks, Alaska... Yukon Eric" LMAO !!

[@SkinnyDre]

This is a revenge match, he lost his ear in Montreal.

[@brnleague99]

Is this the match where Eric lost his ear?

[@vcasalnova]

Killer was doing the "IN YOUR FACE" to Eric after the win. Hilarious!!

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing THE point is to NOT injure, but since most moves are still REALLY happening (NOT fake) hence guys get injured all the time

[@falagarius]

What an awesome german suplex, holy cow.

[@bruhnt5063]

This video was posted just 3 months before Killer Kowalski passed away

[@johnpollock3246]

Some time after the ear match Eric and Walter had several matches. Eric would go out and look at the crowd, if it was small he would say " Poor crowd, Walt. Looks like I'll have to sacrifice another ear!"

[@maredes]

what an awesome reaction at 3:21

[@dreadway3]

I don't know why, but I'll put my 2cents worth in here in answer to a lot of these comments. Yes, pro wrestling is scripted and pre-determined, with fictional narratives unfolding in front of an audience. But these guys are always under pressure to make it look rough and brutal, and it IS to a large extent. People wouldn't keep coming back and paying to see it if it wasn't. And these guys show a LOT of athleticism and toughness. I would never be stupid enough to try to tangle with any of these people.

[@jdbankshot]

@spiritof1978 that's what i said ! on that note, wasn;t it yukon that got his cauliflower ear popped almost clean off by a kowalski kneedrop in montreal? i'm pretty sure it was, which would make this intro funny as hell.

[@alexandrebertrand-lafleur3114]

In "Les saltimbanques du ring" (Quebec's Greats Whestlers) in French History Channel, Killer explain why he had this name.The legend of Killer Kowalski is born in the Montreal Forum in 1954 when Walter Kowalski perform a knee drop and ripped off a part of Yukon Eric's ear by accident! Yukon Eric is in the hospital for a surgical repair and Killer attempt to visit him in the room later to apologize! The first sight for Kowalski is to see Humpty Dumpty in a wall and the opposents laughed!

[@StephenFiorentini]

1:22 Talk about DX Ironic that Killer trained HHH

[@dsbrck]

i met Killer once, i am 6'2" and he was taller than me, so 6'6" does sound correct

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing stupid question, there's a lot of things people watch but dont do...like extreme adventures aND all that. if i was properly trained, i would love to wrestle. since im not, if i try, i can end up dying .....thats legit, i believe we'r old enough to know that

[@elc1960]

@ahackerjack Yes he was - and he also trained Big John Studd, Chyna and Chris Kanyon, among others.

[@nicholausbell2749]

Triple h Perry Saturn Damien Sandow Eddie Edwards Kofi Kingston Fandango and Tommaso Ciampa

[@nhl09gosensgo]

how long ago was this plzz reply

[@joshuachan56]

which part did yukon lost his ear?

[@prowrestlingfnpw3617]

What year is this

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing its not a fake fight as they dont claim to be a fight. here's a quote ;- they are not faking simply because they DONT claim to be a real fight. thats the point of entertainment. thats the point of performers. so the guy getting pinned, isnt claiming in real life he lost a legitimate fight. they dont claim to be a fight. he's getting pinned as part of a show, just like actors die in movies

[@dutedo]

when was this?

[@StephenFiorentini]

Back when getting a three count from a single german suplex was believable 😂.

[@SolidMike84]

@TheAxeman64 Pretty much how obsolete that comment is, it's right up there with "Santa's not real, son." Everyone knows the deal with pro wrestling, but still enjoys it despite it not being 100% real Just as you enjoy movies, despite them not being real

[@Ringey247]

Anybody have the riped ear match ?

[@WrestlingHeretic]

He's gunnin' for a piece of ear tonight! What's not to love.

[@highnrising]

The old "try-to-pin-your-opponent-while-on-your-back-but-accidentally-pin-yourself-instead" move. This is the earliest instance I've seen, but a lot of fine wrestlers have made this blunder. I first saw it live when Ken Patera was having a career night against Sammartino-- but then he blundered into a self-pin while holding Bruno in his swinging neckbreaker grip. Perhaps if Patera had been a wrestler all along instead of a weightlifer, he'd have known about this pitfall and avoided it.

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing nope. but a bodyslam is

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing the dance part made no sense. will i fakely fight my friend in real life? no if i were to do a movie,inside which my character has to fight? YES thats the difference

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing nope im not confused. that was my intention to make things more clear. i've replied to that.

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing you dont break ribs, fracture lungs, bleed, get you'r ear torn off, and even die in pretense

[@ChaosSolo]

Cool! Did you ever meet him?

[@jaxbeachguitars]

notice the ring annoucer...."...Yukon EARICK!!" lol!!!!

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing well then you asked wrong...as wrestlers are performing/entertaining like actors but with legitimate stunts...they arent faking to fight, cause they never claimed to fight

[@bruhnt5063]

It's depressing to think that more than 90% of the people here are probably dead

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing i already said BESIDE kicks, punches and submissions, any wrestling match will have plenty of moves that actually hurts your front or back. l

[@SuperDUDERIKI]

@TheAxeman64 Same goes to you,boi.

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing no you cant.this is how.you can fake the actual hitting, but when the person is falling down on the wooden mat, he is still taking a back bump.dont try to be technical with me on wrestling. i suggest you fall on your back a few times and see if it hurts your shoulders on kidney, and if done wrong....the back of your head.so are the slams, back bump. this isnt a stunt on beds of pillows with extensions and graphics this is happening infront of a crowd live.

[@ddenuci]

That's a pretty massive chest on Yukon Eric, given that this is in the pre-steroids days. Sadly, Eric Holmback took his own life. Committed suicide with a gun following a divorce in the church parking lot where he had been married. I believe Killer Kowalski stated that he got the name "Killer" following the match when his kneedrop resulted in Eric losing part of his cauliflower ear.

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing that depends on choice and taste. and since millions of straight people worldwide love it, i dont ever have to fear if its me being strange

[@elc1960]

You don't see that finish very often. Verne Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel with it once, Bruno Sammartino beat Ken Patera as well. You would never see that finish used today.

[@BaronTurco]

1962 Buffalo, NY

[@mda1218]

nice fight... like two big men settling a beef behind the Moose Lodge... givin and takin it, till one is softened up by the better man....

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing lol who celin dion? not a fan. and the driving is logic fail again, as its a necessity, the benefit of which far outweighs the risk. plus i am a licensed driver,who NEEDS to drive if i was a trained and licensed wrestler, getting paid...i will wrestle despite the risk

[@fayezfawzi3255]

awesome german suplex. truly awesome. you felt the impact. everything else sucked though :(

[@mopsmops1743]

very good match

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing NO .....two reasons. its entertainment. NOT sport. so no point saying if its fake or not. point 2 :- the wrestlers still sacrifice their bodies for us, everyday they take VERY REAL unimaginable pain in the ring, thats not fakery...the injuries are all real...and its disrespectful to them

[@XMIR10C]

czaya-bob-nandor was invulnerable to the claw hold

[@elc1960]

The last time I saw that finish in a match, Bret Hart beat Roddy Piper for the Intercontinental belt with it at a Wrestlemania (I believe #6, but I could be wrong).

[@evanglenn414]

The ring announcer pronounced Yukon Eric as Yukon Ear-ick. Listen to him.

[@TheAxeman64]

@SolidMike84 ...and your point being????

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing no the art of pro wrestling.moves & holds, falls & submissions,supplexes & bodyslams, armbars and knee locks. entertaining thousands,putting up a show every night & yet learning how to not injure your opponent amidst all these travelling the world over,sweating,bleeding with each other forming a brotherhood that will last till you live & having a beer at the end of the day,before heading off to the next town. its definitely a more exciting life than anything you'll ever do

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing yeah so whats the question in that post? you asked why i dont wrestle, whether im ashamed. so i pointed out,that you dont necessarily do everything that you love to watch

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing i dont need explain anymore

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing and we dont call an actor a faker do we? not normal people. as that is art, entertainment, so is pro wrestling no i dont. but i believe its REAL athletic entertainment

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing you said these words "you lost" you said "atleast i win". is it that hard to understand? they arent faking, as people know the 28year old hogan is NOT legitimately combating 65 year old flair. they are performing in a show.

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing they are performing, thats what performance asks for.like if an actor rapes someone in a movie is he really a rapist? didnt think so

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing lol thats a literal interpretation.acting is also a REAL PROFESSION. fake fighting? no, as they dont claim to fight, they are athletic entertainers, doing REAL athleticism & REALLY getting injured

[@twsstar]

The killer was born in windsor, ontario, canada

[@SDG.12]

@elc1960 lol even if this was meant to be sarcastic, remember my point was its not like i dedicated part of my life posting-reposting with the guy.it was just the product of a couple hours of a boring afternoon, case closed

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing no im not . i dont feel manipulated, as i know its entertainment (like most fans) and there's already a lot of manipulating things in the 'real' world i watch wrestling for entertainment (thats what most things on tv is about) and athleticism most of which is 100% real

[@Inediblehulk]

Yukon Eric doesn't like armdrags, so he doesn't take them. If only the commentators of Hogan's day were that straightforward about pinfalls.

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing no im not,most moves besides kicks,punches,submissions are really being performed.they are still doing it. when you land on your back on a wooden mat, you can never be 'completely safe'when you get hit with a chair on you'r forehead,you can never be completely safe. they arent fighting, as i said so many times. but the moves they are doing to perform are still legit, full contact, so either ways, it doesnt fit the definition of fakery

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing lol,werent you accusing me of repeating things an hour back?its a tough question, you'll understand it only once you've deciphered the meaning of life

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing but you'r missing the point,it doesnt matter what the entertainment up off. its similar to saying,omg daniel radcliff is faking being harry potter. how stupid is that? thats the whole purpose of art plus even inside the ring, most moves still hurt and legitimately performed

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing no its a stupid one.firstly you'r asking me to do this and prove that...very amusing. im not a broadcast journalist,i cant explain a wrestling match

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing YEAH, genius, we KNOW its choreographed, its scripted....thats why the guy runs towards him. we know that, as its NOT a real fight. its entertainment. but then the move being done to him whether its a spinebuster or a knee to the face, that still is full contact and hurts as hell....no faking

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing but wrestlers never claim to be real fighters. as for stunts...difference is getting injured in a stunt is accident (and the injuryreally happening, not fake), but in wrestling, its the purpose..you will get hurt everytime you step in the ring (& again, the moves & injuries are really happening)

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing no they are performing an act of entertainment. if you'r gonna call that actor a rapist, then yes...but no sane person will.

[@woodyt56]

No way was Kowalski 6'6" 270 like he was billed. He was maybe 6'2" 230. But that was huge for a wrestler 50 yrs ago. Most wrestlers were 5'9" or shorter.

[@lonesomelou4188]

Sorry, brother, Killer was a legit 6'6"...check his appearance on Letterman video...Letterman was 6'2" ...Killer stood over him

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing oh jeez,after 100s of posts you'r asking me this? its scripted. but since its not a real sport or fight....its an entertainment show business,and any entertainment form is scripted. also, since the body slams, the blade jobs, the chair shots, the jumping from ropes, the power moves are all legitimately being done,its obviously not fake

[@angus506]

i liked kowalski more when he looked like a freak

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing its hard to describe a wrestling match if you arent a journalist, its that simple. two men are performing. and i never conceded its 'fake" thats what imsaying, there's a huge difference in faking something, and entertainment

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing i already answered. are you gonna call the actor a rapist?

[@elc1960]

@sayanroy36 Amazing to see so many quotes on an old wrestling match, but even more astonishing is the fact that most of the comments came from two guys! The thing that amazed me most was that in all your comments to RandytheAstonishing, you never once asked him the obvious question: If he hated wrestling so much and thought it was so fake, why the hell did he want to watch a video of it on KZbin in the first place? Not looking to engage you in an argument, just curious.

[@elc1960]

@sayanroy36 No, I was only kidding with you. I understand completely.

[@SDG.12]

@elc1960 lol it was all in the span of a day(couple hours for that matter). i pretty much was having a boring afternoon and the troll lightened it up if i remember correctly.... & trolls are trolls,they'll come up with bs no matter how wise a fact you state, a question you ask

[@Costrichegg]

@Cholly59 That's okay. I'm good.

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing no. i dont. thats what i wanted to hear. ofcourse he isnt a real rapist. he's an actor, we wont say he's faking a rape.we will say he's acting. similarly, the wrestler is doing his performance,there's no pretense, as they dont CLAIM to fight. also, in pretend fighting people wont bleed and get their ear torn off. thats exactly what happened to yukon against kovalski

[@biffvonwrinkle]

uh oh theres gonna be a hasslllllle

[@SolidMike84]

@TheAxeman64 No really? And here I thought it was universally loved, like Bieber

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing no im saying its entertainment.and like all entertainment its scripted. they ARE NOT fighting. so the question, whether its a fake fight is obsolete whats preferable is on one's choice, i have nothing against combat SPORTS. i watch wrestling to watch athletic entertainment.

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing oh wow so specific. read what i said, "the outcome is fixed, the bumps (that is moves they do) are mostly real" and takes great athleticism & also, since its entertainment, not sport...and they are not claiming to be, they arent fooling anyone...so they arent faking, pinning is only part of a 'show.' logic will be strong if you learnt to read & understand.

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing nope. fail logic. pro wrestling IS the movie (for people, who dont understand the purpose of entertainment or art) where they are portraying characters in athletic entertainment. they are not claiming to fight, so fighting with my friends or not is just ridiculous. pro wrestling isnt fighting, its athletic entertainment, and they arent pretending anything as people already know they're a show business.

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing it DOESN'T MATTER if its a sport or not. if watching sweaty men on tv makes you gay,then 90% of the world is gay as they watch sweaty men on tv one way or the other

[@PoopityScoopity]

2:42

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing lol im not trying to sound anything, remember im arguing with someone who thinks dancing and what not is gay. which people in my world will find quite amusing. & btw this is youtube, not harvard law...no one cares about spelling mistakes, thats the biggest cliche of them all.atleast my posts has substance.

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing YAH and thats the purpose of acting. similarly its the purpose of wrestling. they didnt CLAIM to fight, so no question about fakery. the pretense that you say is part of an act, a show,....and the show itself is legitimate real

[@SDG.12]

@RandytheAstonishing Only if they CLAIMED that they ARE REALLY fighting, but in actuality they arent..thenofcourse i will but if thousands gathered in the same situation in a MOVIE SET,then NO. cause thats the purpose of the movie nope, everyone cares about content, someone who dances doesnt necessarily love singing. someone who watches action movies doesnt necessarily love comedy. logic fail again

[@TheAxeman64]

@SuperDUDERIKI Pffft. I fart in your general direction, boy.